Organocatalysed depolymerisation of PET in a fully sustainable cycle using thermally stable protic ionic salt

Towards a greener recycling route for plastic bottles

A protic ionic salt based on the simple mixing of an organic base, TBD, and an organic acid, MSA, has revealed incredible thermal resistance and catalytic abilities. With our new organocatalyst, the depolymerization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) is possible in less than 2 h to yield more than 90% yield of monomer. Check our publication towards more sustainable chemical recycling of PET in Green Chemistry.

https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlelanding/2018/GC/C7GC03396F#!divAbstract